Victor griswold fully marked

[chipotledoggie]

Me again, with the third and final pan I found this week. It's in great shape, except it has a small bow in the center. When I laid it down on a table in the store it barely wobbled. Now, getting it home and putting it on my electric burner, it moves around a fair bit. How much does a slight bow that is noticeable like this affect value? I paid $28, which is probably too much, now that I get it home and can see the wobble - but it is barely discernible to the eye! The other question : with these thinner cast skillets, is there a greater danger of warping them when cooking with them over an electric burner, as opposed to being on a gas burner?

[chipotledoggie]

And here'e the inside of the Victor, just so you can see the condition...I'm a user, not so much a collector, but I am interested in the value - especially since I will probably sell pieces I have in order to acquire new finds! Thanks everyone for your help on the other pans so far!

[C. Perry Rapier]

Well Carla, some words of advice that I am sure others have as well. When you see a piece like this and it has the marks of so much darker in the middle, thats a first sign to look closer for possible warping, warpage, or warps, whatever.

As far as a user goes, a slight bit won't hurt. As far as a collector item goes, warping decreases the value greatly and most collectors will shy away, if not turn away, is that the same thing, from such items. Unless it is a rare item, I would not buy it if it was warped or damaged such as a crack. However, if its pitted some I might buy it because I did not have it in a set that I was trying to fill up, until I get a better one to replace it with, meanwhile it is better than the one that I had, which was none.

What was the question again. Oh yeah, now if this was a Victor 5, a wobble would be ok, because the 5 is the toughest and most expensive to get in this set.

[chipotledoggie]

Thanks Perry, That's a great tip, too look for the dark section in the middle. This pan does not wobble when it sits on most flat surfaces - it's most noticeable on the burner. Seeing the dark center with an understanding eyes would have helped me investigate further before puechasing. Live and learn, heavy on the learn, as always, here on the WAGS site! chow

[Steve_Stephens]

Carla,
before buying a pan check its cooking surface with a good straight edge and the bottom, too.  Many sellers state "sits flat" which is completely meaningless as a upward warped pan (and some with a down warp and a heat rim) will "sit flat" with no wobble.  You want to know if the bottom is perfectly flat or close to flat and the only way is to check with a good straight edge.  I use good table edges, a plastic drafting triangle, a ruler; anything that is very straight.  Some pans were originally cast with a slight up or down bow but it should be an even bow and not very pronounced.  

Steve

[chipotledoggie]

Thanks, Steve. I feel dumb, because the pan was marked "has a slight bow." But it didn't waggle on the table, so I was fooled. I guess I'll have to add an old fashioned straight rule to the box of truck tools that never leave the cab...

[Steve_Stephens]

My advice to everyone is to completely forget about "sits flat" and find out if the cooking surface and/or the bottom of the pan is "perfectly flat" or how far it is off from perfectly flat.  A person may stand flat and tall on his feet but wobble about on his butt.  If you were cooking yourself you would be sitting on the fire and not standing.  Hope you all understand what I am trying to say, i.e. that if a seller states a piece "sits flat" that isn't telling you diddly squat about whether the bottom is flat or not unless the pan has a downwarp and any downwarp extends past any heat rim.

Steve